PS4A PlayTime: 1st-7th February 2016

Not for the first time, this week’s PlayTime is dominated by Japanese games (mainly thanks to Mitch… obviously), including Digimon Story: Cyber Sleuth, Hatoful Boyfriend, Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 4, and more.

DolphGB

This week, I played some more Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, continuing my slow plod through Africa. My strategy for playing the game, though, is probably a little different to that of Majiesto, who famously played through the entire story without completing any of the non-essential side missions. In stark contrast, I move from mission to side-mission in a very similar manner to the way I play GTA – I’ve never been the type to just go through the main story when given the option to deviate. I think that’s why I like sandbox games so much.

My menagerie is looking pretty decent too. Thanks to Africa, I’ve been able to rescue almost an entire nature reserve’s worth of the world’s most endangered species. That’s rescue, not destroy; I’m no dentist. Oh, and D-Dog finally answered the question of how a canine wears trousers (or pants, if you’re in the US) when I put him in his new “sneaking suit”.

Mitch

If there’s a game that’s been released lately, you can bet I’ve played it! (Assuming it’s on a Sony platform and probably Japanese.) Regardless, I’ve spent several hours playing and completing (and earning all the trophies) in Hatoful Boyfriend and jumping to the mid-sequel Holiday Star. The whole thing might sound a bit silly, with it being hailed as a ‘pigeon dating sim’, but the story and characters are fantastically written, and the true ending had me gripped. I didn’t expect it, so don’t write it off because of how it looks!

Otherwise I’ve been playing Gravity Rush Remastered, Megadimension Neptunia VII, Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 4, Star Wars Battlefront, Black Ops 3, Crypt of the NecroDancer, Ultra Street Fighter IV, Rocket League, Earth Defence Force 4.1 and Digimon Story: Cyber Sleuth; although I’ve spent more time on some than others, with Digimon, Rocket League, Black Ops 3 and Naruto easily being the games I’ve played most. Incidentally, if you’ve been waiting for a game that makes full use of the Digimon license, then you’ll want to be grabbing Cyber Sleuth.

Both of my DualShock 4s, which I’ve had since the launch of the PS4, have annoyed me this week, as the R2 button has now broken on both of them. I’ve picked up the Star Wars limited edition controller (after much debate on which I should buy!), but I’m still annoyed with how poorly made the controller is compared to the DualShock 3, of which mine still work. The triggers are bad enough, but the rubber on the analog sticks has been wearing away for months! I’m hoping my new controller is better made, and I’m happy to hear that the rubbers are generally better on the limited edition controllers, but who knows. I’m just looking forward to having my Darth Vader pad!

Stefan

If you read the previous PlayTime, you’re probably expecting me to write about how I played a lot of The Witness this week, but unfortunately that isn’t really the case; mainly because – and it pains me to say this – I have mixed feelings about the game. I love the beautiful visuals and the joy of discovery it instils in me, but there are other aspects that I’m not so keen on.

For example, the fact that all of the puzzles are essentially variations of the same thing (i.e. drawing lines) is disappointing at best, and boring at worst. The total lack of a hint system is also somewhat of a roadblock, as it means there are times when many of the puzzles feel almost insurmountable. I am enjoying The Witness, but am currently still waiting for the game to truly click with me.

Stefan Hutchings

My first venture into the world of game consoles was with the PSone, which I received for Christmas in 1999 at the age of nine. Ever since then I’ve been a huge fan of both the PlayStation brand and videogames in general. I have an extremely diverse taste in genres, although my preference is usually for action/adventure games, platformers and RPGs.

Dull Stuff!

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